Hope
by Eavenne
Summary: Basically, a mouse tries to escape the world of Transformice. Contains a free Greek Mythology lesson. :) One-shot.


Hope

**Note:** **This is my first Transformice fic: Cover picture (when I put it up) is of our main character. Though it's actually a photo of my mouse. :P Also, I am a regular in Room 100. We're not very close or anything. :P But still, I know most of the regulars there. Any apparent references to real mice are coincidences and are not intentional. Enjoy! **

Map after map.

Round after round.

Death after death.

It was her habit to look up, into the great pixellated expanse which was the "sky" and wonder if she could leave the endless cycle. Perhaps she could wall jump a seemingly infinite wall and reach the top one day. Perhaps she could build up and up- to reach the sky. Perhaps she could simply not untie the shaman's balloon: and fly to freedom.

A dreamer, the others called her. There was no way to escape from the infinite maze of maps; rounds; deaths. They could only work together to make the best out of what had been given to them. Yet, every map, every single round, as she died, she would look up- and dream.

Everything changed- for the better? For the worse, maybe- since it gave her what could be false hope, but it was hope nonetheless.

Shaman skills.

As expected, she was most interested in the Wind Master skill tree.

Speed.

Bubbles.

Rocket scientist.

Teleportation.

Wings.

Scrutinizing the skills, she made a plan- in addition, playing harder than ever. Every glance into the sky made jump higher; every thought of escaping, of finding out what lay beyond made her dare to try things she had never done before- such as lava-jumping.

Eventually, in Room 100, she became the shaman- a level 30 Wind Master- on the Anvil God map. Instantly, she put her plan into action.

Cannons were released. Most mice fell prey to them, their spirits, trapped in bubbles, floating up- some blown away by the spinning, enraged anvil god- she simply used a combination of teleportation and propeller jump to slip past it's attacks. (As for why she decided to use a bubble to begin and not a balloon- it was the simple fact that if she had started with a balloon, she would have to jump onto it to use a Rocket Scientist, which was hard. Thus, she would have to waste a teleportation on it, and she could not afford to do so when she would be using teleportation a lot.)

Jumping onto the one remaining bubble, she watched as three victorious mice managed to bring the cheese back to safety- silently, she congratulated them. While she did, they gazed up at her questioningly, muttering," Why did you do this?" "You're usually so sweet," and the like.

Soon, once she was out of their sight, she tied a balloon around her waist- and then attached it to a box. This caused her to fly much faster, and from there she released herself, then using her gold-tipped wings to slow her fall as she bent down, teleported herself onto the balloon-box, and then used Rocket Scientist to let herself fly. After which, the process continued…

Only to be put to an abrupt end due to a lack of time; once the survivors had entered the hole, time had been shortened to a mere 20 seconds, and before she knew it, she was back on the ground, facing the concerned faces of 15 mice (including the new shaman who was ignoring a red button near her) in the next room.

The mice of Room 100, the 16 of them, shared a strong bond. Outsiders, non-regulars were not a common occurrence; though, should there be any, they were warmly welcomed. On that fateful day, when all the mice had awakened in the tutorial, not remembering anything, 13 mice decided to head off to Room 100, knowing that there would not be many mice there; and they had gone through thick and thin together, 3 more mice joining their circle of friendship.

"Friends" could not be used to describe the bond that they shared- it was as if they could sense each others' feelings and thoughts, and cry with the person when he/she was sad; smile with the person when he/she was happy; hug the person when he/she needed it; calm the person when he/she was angry. Yet, despite their bond, the 15 mice could not understand why she had done that. None of them had ever deliberately tried to kill another before- which was why they were so concerned.

"Why did you do that?" Von asked, his voice carefully toned yet still expressing shock and hurt.

"Is something wrong? What…why would you attack us? There must be a reason?" Elpis, the shaman, said- her question was more of a statement than anything.

She was the only mute mouse in existence; and as such she was forced to communicate through sign language. As for the questions…she supposed she really should have explained her motives to them beforehand- it wasn't fair to keep them in the dark.

Map after map passed as she explained to the 15 her motives and objectives through that silent language that was her mode of communication. 2:00 after 2:00, minutes, seconds ticked away as they nodded in understanding. FInally, she ended by apologising to the mice, saying she should have informed them beforehand and that she was very, very sorry.

More maps passed as they mulled it over, digesting the information. Her shaman turn came and left- by the time Elpis was once again shaman, they had all simultaneously made a decision- they would help her. Dreamer? They might have thought that of her before (though, regardless, they loved her) but…the existence of skills changed everything. The only question was of how to aid her. Some maps later, they had an answer worked out.

Kill themselves? Well, a mouse would kill his/herself for the bubble to spawn- the others would wait for her to reach the "sky" yet again, and she would then see what there was up there, to be told to the others in the next map. If possible to escape through whatever was up there, they would spend map time attempting to build up to whatever was there- or wait for a configuration map.

Cheese had been snatched, they had entered the hole and it was the next map- she saw that she was to be the next shaman.

Hugs were exchanged. She was blessed with their good wishes and the like. Simple smiles and pats on the back from the more introverted. Yet, even those small gestures spoke so much to she who had no voice. They said," We're rooting for you. Do your best!" to her.

This time, Elpis killed herself and released a bubble. Instantly, silently thanking her for his sacrifice (which both meant little and a lot at the same time to her), she jumped onto it and waved farewell to the 15 she knew so well. For all she knew, she might never see them again. Perhaps there was no "sky". Perhaps there was no end to the cycle. Perhaps there was no escape. She would find out.

After, say, 10 seconds, she decided to step up the game- but not before she kissed the bubble containing her friend's soul to show her appreciation. Upon straightening up, she bent down and charged up a Rocket Scientist. Once it was at full charge, she released it and flew up high, towards the place she yearned to reach so badly. Eventually, of course, she stopped, and she then employed those beautiful gold-tipped white wings of hers, slowing her fall enough for her to tie a bright yellow balloon to herself. Said balloon was then attached to a box which sped up her ascension in triples; once it slowed down, she used a teleportation to let her appear on the balloon-box.

Straightening up, she used another Rocket Scientist and the process continued. By then, she could not see the other 14 on the ground; they were probably still staring up at her fading figure, wondering if she was the key to unlocking a bright future. Perhaps a bright future was what lay beyond the confines of that world; she could only guess and speculate.

Time was beginning to run out. Despairing, she gazed up at the "sky" with increased desperation. Was this truly endless- was there nothing that lay beyond? Had her dreams all been for nought?

Yet somehow, she saw a strange ripple in the blue ahead- the pixels stood out more than they usually did. Was this…what she had been looking for? Finally? The end to her odyssey? The true sky? The sky that would lead to their escape?

8 seconds were all that was left. Nearly there…but not quite. Giddy with anticipation, she used another Rocket Scientist and then fired a spirit under herself, propelling herself upward; not enough; she used another; centimeters away; another one…

One final spirit.

She reached the sky.

A cry of pure joy- a silent one- escaped from her lips.

Her dream had come true.

Then the sky- and all the background and scenery- turned black.

White words began to write themselves on the darkness.

They were all the same.

ERROR.

ERROR.

ERROR.

ERROR.

ERROR.

All of a sudden, those were replaced by different words- but those that worked a chill into her body and made her stomach clench in fright.

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

Then she was free falling towards the ground at a scary speed; speed that she was gaining as she fell; speed that made her open her mouth in a shriek of horror that could not be heard.

Open her wings, her mind told her. But she could not, somehow- her wings refused to appear on her back. Never before had she felt so helpless, falling like a rag doll to a painful, dreaded landing.

It was only when her feet began to disappear when the full impact of what she had caused hit her.

Everything was going to disappear.

Everyone was going to disappear.

Von. Lily. All of her friends were going to die.

She was going to die too.

And it was all because of her.

Her stupid dream.

The dream that would never become reality.

The dream that she had been foolish to believe in.

The dream that would be the death of all of them.

She couldn't bear to think of it; she squeezed her eyes shut to stop herself from thinking of her friends' faces. All it did was for them to appear even clearer before her closed eyes.

Tears began to form in her eyes- they stung as she screamed; a scream of frustration, sadness, despair, anger, hate, fear; yet for all her feelings, she could not make a sound.

Her waist was gone now, she noticed. Somehow, she wanted herself to disappear faster; to die faster; so she could finally, truly escape- her escape being true death, unlike that in the maps, where she would appear for the next map.

This time, though, there was no next map. There was no next chance.

Somehow, the ground seemed to have disappeared as well, and she simply fell though where it had once been. Pixel by pixel, she- or at least part of her- died. In the end, she had somewhat let her friends escape. Not that she wanted it to end this way, of course- death was not a good ending, no matter the circumstances.

Perhaps she had saved them from the circle of maps; rounds; deaths…

Wait! She could hear…something...

Laughter.

That was what she heard.

Were they laughing at her, at her hopeless gesture, at her stupid, impossible dream, at her silly attempt to make it real?

It must have been very funny indeed.

Yet all she could do was to cry. To sob at how she brought about the demise of so many friends. Any mask of strength she had worn was cast away to reveal her true face- a weak, pathetic, crying one.

As the last few pixels that made up her disappeared, one by one, Pandora wished that she could turn back time- and make it all happen again.

Elpis' smiling face was the last thing she saw before she vanished.

**Note: "Pandora" is the name of the female main character. I'm sure you know who Pandora in Greek Mythology is. Meanwhile, "Elpis" is the spirit of Hope. In Greek Mythology, Elpis stayed behind in Pandora's box before she closed it. No need to thank me for your free Greek Mythology lesson. :)**


End file.
